Anyone who ever dismissed nail polish as trivial should take one second to read about Jane Schub. The cerebral founder of STRANGEBEAUTIFUL is the woman behind one of the most unique nail polish lines to ever hit the market.

Shades in her collection have been inspired by, among many other things, the gradation of color in the fur of a taxidermy caribou head, an orange turban in a 15th Century Florentine portrait titled Matteo Olivieri, the veins of green mold running through Roquefort, the dull brown red of Red Rope files, A Mid-Century Modern Knoll fabric, and Oscar Wilde. The resulting shades are highly saturated, conversation-starting colors.

Schub graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and embarked on a career as an illustrator, painting large works of fashion and beauty before turning her hand to a concept-oriented brand of cosmetics.

STRANGEBEAUTIFUL is a 3-free product completely free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP. The shades are organized by 8-piece limited edition volumes.

We spoke to Schub — who will be launching an exclusive line of products at Anthropolgy in early June – about her inspiration, her favorite shades, and more.

The Fashion Spot: How do you come up with your new nail colors? Can you give us some of your favorite points of inspiration?

Jane Schub: I observe with intent, and compulsively stare at everything and everyone. When creating and developing a Volume of Colors, it all comes about very organically. As for points of favorite inspirations, Dirty Almond, Cheap Foundation, and Pigeon Belly are three of my favorites.

Now, I would rather live without any appliances if Almond was my only choice, but I thought the color would be very elegant as a nail polish. Cheap Foundation is a color to abhor, with very negative connotation for most people, but it works so well for me. As for Pigeon Belly, when I mention this inspiration, people say ‘oh yes, you are so correct – that is it!’ I do all the visual work, the transformation, and people just smile and chuckle. It is a nice surprise, and gives me great pleasure.

tFS: Can you describe the idea behind your Library of Colors?

JS: My intent is to make people aware of the nuances of color, and how colors relate to one another.

tFS: Why did you opt to have your shades available only in limited edition quantities?

JS: This was my initial intent; although I had to change this to please my customers. I will now start archiving colors, and then reissue them.

tFS: What inspired the unique shape of your polish bottle?

JS: Books.

tFS: How often do you change your nail color?

JS: This is a very interesting question with an answer perhaps that may not be understood by all. Never – nail polish wears me! Since I am always developing color, I need to have a blank canvas (my digits).

tFS: Do you have any tips for an at-home manicure/pedicure?

JS: Absolutely none at all – STRANGEBEAUTIFUL is purely about the color, not the treatment. I will leave that to the professionals.

tFS: What can women do to extent how long their manicure/pedicures last?

JS: STRANGEBEAUTIFUL is heavily saturated withcolor, between 40% – 60 % pigment. Hence, one coat is all that is usually necessary.

tFS: What is your favorite polish shade from your current volume?

JS: I am truly fond of all them for different reasons. I will mention Caribou and Aged Chartreuse.